For what it's worth, I don't think we're meant to be fooled.

So, Rings of Power season two is coming. by Neshomeh on 2024-05-17 21:02:47 UTC Reply

I... quite honestly don't know what to make of this. We're doing Annatar now, I guess? Seems a bit late unless, as Phobos thinks, it's going to be part of a "looking back and putting together the pieces" sort of thing. It could work, but I'm skeptical. Still wouldn't absolve them of making Galadriel miss it.

Maybe we're getting the appearance of the Watcher in the Water, if it's that big black pile of leeches?

It really sounds like we're getting the Balrog, which... we shouldn't? I mean, maybe Durin is talking about the Watcher when he says an ancient and powerful evil has returned, but idk. They showed us the Balrog at the end of last season. (We're supposed to think he's talking about Sauron, but I don't believe that at all.)

We notably don't see any of the Harfoots in this trailer. I personally wouldn't miss them, but it would surprise me if they were dropped altogether. At least there's still got to be the two being probably-Gandalf's travel buddies, right?

I hope they do something with the other Istari in the East. Theoretically they got there first.

I also hope we get quite a bit more of Númenor than the trailer implies. That's where the most story has room to happen, IMO. And, well, referring back to Annatar, maybe that's where we'll see him spend most of his time, corrupting the rulers?

I dunno. As with the trailers for season one, this doesn't tell us much at all about the story they're planning to tell. There's a lot of stuff that just confuses me, like what the heck is that big sea monster? Maybe it's one of several shots that could be visions rather than actual events, like the tree tendrils and the suddenly appearing tower?

Admittedly, my Tolkien lore is rusty, so I might have missed things. I'll have to brush up before August!

~Neshomeh

Hmpf. Putting a wig isn't fooling me, Sauron/Annatar/Halbrand. by TheBefuddledBookworm on 2024-05-19 23:08:13 UTC Reply

I had hopes for the first season, which were dashed hard enough that I didn't watch all the episodes. I'm not sure I'll watch the second season. Maybe I will go write me some fanfic.

For what it's worth, I don't think we're meant to be fooled. by Neshomeh on 2024-05-20 14:46:47 UTC Reply

They spent last season playing "Where's Sauron?"; it would be an extremely bad move to try it again just from a crass marketing standpoint, let alone a writing one.

I have some hope that season two will attempt to correct for some of seasons one's flaws, though I remain skeptical. At the very least, I'll watch so I can be mad at it for the right reasons instead of whatever vitriol gets spewed by the people who're using it as a cover for real-world bigotry. That drives me up the wall more than anything the show has done!

~Neshomeh, recognizing that everything has been political since forever.

Yeah, not an informative trailer at all. by Huinesoron on 2024-05-17 21:30:30 UTC Reply
I did a line by line description of it over on the Barrow-Downs, and all it told me is a) Sauron is in it, b) there are Rings, possibly Of Power, and c) I barely recognise any of these characters.

In the sillier part of the Downs I also speculated on possible plot points, which I feel are worth sharing here. These are my very serious predictions:
- Since everything in Middle-earth must be explained on-screen, the oceanic kraken seen in the middle of the trailer is the Watcher in the Water. The... underwater girl?... is going to take it to Moria.
- I definitely saw Movie!Kili and Tauriel in there, so I'mma say time travel. Since Mithril is silmarils or whatever that was all about, Bilbo's mithril vest is magically linked to the Second Age and Hobbit movie characters are going to travel back to join the show.
- The entire last episode of Series 1 will be deleted, "which is okay because Tolkien did the same thing with the Riddles scene!". The Three haven't been forged, and Sauron is still undercover. Though the whole "drop a river on a volcano" thing is presumed to have still happened offscreen.
- At least one First Age elf from the opening of Appendix A will appear in person. Probably Feanor; I don't see any mention of him dying in this, the only book that matters.
I think I'm onto something with that last one. Could be Turgon or Idril, though.

hS

Haha, nice. by Neshomeh on 2024-05-18 05:21:50 UTC Reply

I dunno who your "Tauriel" is, but I think "Kili" is Human!Sauron. ... Unless Movie!Kili was Sauron all along!! That might honestly explain him, using smarm in an attempt to disrupt Elven society. {X D

I like your time travel idea, though! The show is already bending time anyway. I'm sure it's fine, because the Valar can canonically bend space. And, what's George Lucas' thing, rhyming? And Tolkien liked poetry, too!

Not sure what the joke is about Tolkien deleting the Riddles scene, but if they wanna go ahead and take a mulligan on the last episode of S1, they have my permission. ^_^

On an actual serious note, I wonder if one of the Elves drawing swords was Celeborn? If they want a romantic subplot, that would be a reasonable place to get one. Oh, or, if Galadriel and Celeborn are married already ~~then where the heck was he in S1?~~, the female elf could be Celebrían, and she and Elrond can have the romantic subplot.

~Neshomeh

"Space is warped and time is bendable!"